Which to use
“bemühen” is a verb and “bemühte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,041
- “bemühen” frequency rank
- #14,250
- “bemühte” frequency rank
- 20291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bemühen | bemühte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich Mühe geben, sich anstrengen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bemüht |
Where the eye mixes bemühen and bemühte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bemühen with bemühte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bemühen is [bəˈmyːən] while bemühte is [bəˈmyːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bemühen is recorded at frequency rank #6,041, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈmyːən]. bemühte is at rank #14,250, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmyːtə].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 20291, this pair ranks #1,899,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bemühen vs bemühte
Shared letters: behmü. Private to "bemühen": n. Private to "bemühte": t.
"bemühen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "bemühte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bemühen" for "bemühte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bemühen" vs "bemühte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bemühen" and "bemühte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,899,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bemühen" and "bemühte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bemühte vs blühte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,899,288 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.